What now for Conference USA-bound FAU Owls?

Simply, a lot more than what the Owls were getting in the Sun Belt Conference.

Money

In conference realignment, it all comes down to money, and for FAU, there will be more in the new conference.

Buyout: There is no buyout to leave the Sun Belt Conference, just a forfeiture of a year's worth of conference revenue — a figure that is believed to be less than $500,000.

Payout: Conference USA pays between $2 and $3 million annually to teams. Compared to the SEC, it's chicken droppings, but it's a significant increase over the Sun Belt.

Travel: The Owls will save some, not a lot, but some, money on travel in the new conference, because of FIU. It's also expected that the non-profit sports (everything but football at FAU) will be aided by the suggested east and west divisions inside the new Conference USA.

Reputation:

Conference USA doesn't carry the same prestige that it once did, but as the Sun Belt purges more teams, only to replace them with FCS squads, the move to C-USA is still a significant step up in reputation for the Owls. Conference USA's television contracts with Fox, ESPN and CBSsports give it a true national exposure, beyond the online-only ESPN3 games offered by the Sun Belt, or the weeknight ESPN2 tilt.

Conference USA still carries name recognition, as well, certainly more so than the Sun Belt, a league whose largest market, aside from the frictionless Georgia State in Atlanta, will be Mobile, Alabama.

Security:

More so than anything else, the move is big for this season. While FAU to C-USA is being panned as a latteral move, it's hardly that. Sure, the quality of the teams in football might be equal to the #FunBelt — perhaps it's a bit lower — but security is what every team is looking for in conference realignment.

The Sun Belt has now lost four teams to Conference USA. It will replace those teams with FCS call-ups. Conference USA, by being able to take the best athletic departments from the Sun Belt, has proven that it is higher on the food chain than the Sun Belt. The Big East eats Conference USA, the ACC eats the Big East, the Big 12 and Big Ten eat the ACC. This is how the conference ecosystem works, and for FAU, it's important to be away from the bottom of the food chain, where it could be left in a defacto FCS conference. Arkansas State and South Alabama fans are clammoring to get into C-USA, and it's for a reason. The Sun Belt isn't likely to go the way of the WAC, Benson's previous league, but it looks far away from being a stable mid-major conference. Furthermore, it's television value is taking a big hit, not only in market size, but in Q-rating. That won't bode well later this year, when Benson walks into meetings with ESPN.